Monday

Jan 14, 2019 at 2:18 PMJan 14, 2019 at 2:21 PM

An Illinois strip-club dancer was arrested after throwing a shot glass at a customer before slapping the back of his head, police said.

About 11:20 p.m. Jan. 2, the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office was called to Pulse Gentleman’s Club, 3601 W. Farmington Road. Two men, ages 22 and 23, said they were sitting at the bar when a 25-year-old dancer approached them with an offer of a private dance, according to a sheriff’s report. The older man said the dancer “repeatedly was bothering” the two about the dance offer, and the younger man said the dancer got “very angry” at them for rebuffing her, the report stated.

According to the report, the men (who are white) said the dancer (who is black) then called them “racist” and told them, “You must love Trump, because you’re racist.” As she continued to yell at them and invoke the president’s name, the younger man then bought her a shot of alcohol in an effort to calm her, the report said.

Instead, she picked up the shot glass and threw it at the older man’s head, but missed, the report stated. She then whacked him in the back of the head with an open hand, causing his hat to fly off, the report stated.

With the help of the club’s manager, a deputy reviewed security video, which showed the dancer throwing the shot glass and hitting the patron. Neither man touched the dancer, the report stated.

A deputy talked to the dancer, who said she had been drinking “most of the night” and “appeared to be highly intoxicated,” the report stated. She said that after she had offered to dance for the two men, the older one called her a racist name, the report stated. She told police that the remark “upset her very much because she had never been the victim of racism before,” the report stated.

As for her alleged actions, she said she accidentally dropped her drink to the ground, and she did not hit anyone, the report stated. She suggested the angle of the video camera somehow made it look as if she had struck the man. As for his hat flying off, she theorized that as her shot glass hit the floor, the force of the splashing liquor perhaps blasted the hat from his head, the report stated.

The dancer, Erica L. White of Peoria, was arrested and taken to the Peoria County Jail, where she was booked on a felony charge, aggravated battery. She was also wanted in McLean County on a DUI warrant. She was released Jan. 4 after posting $180 bail.